World product sales will be driven in part by a shift toward more expensive, better performing bearings, supported by increasingly complex designs in bearing-using products.

World demand to rise 7.3% annually through 2018

Global demand for ball, roller, and plain bearings is projected to rise 7.3 percent annually to $104.5 billion in 2018. Product sales will be fueled by healthy gross fixed investment and durable goods output growth as world economic conditions improve. Also contributing to value gains will be a shift in the product mix toward more expensive, better performing units, supported by increasingly complex designs in bearing-using products and by high energy prices, which make highly efficient bearings a more attractive investment.

China to account for nearly half of all new demand

China will post the strongest gains of any national market in dollar terms. In fact, almost half of all additional product demand through 2018 will be accounted for by China. Market advances in the country will be supported by GDP growth well above the global average, ongoing increases in fixed investment spending, strong gains in manufacturing output, and healthy levels of motor vehicle output and sales. However, India, a considerably smaller but still large bearing market, is expected to register larger annual increases in percentage terms. A number of smaller markets -- including Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, and Malaysia -- will also record healthy sales advances.

US bearing demand will represent one of the strongest market performances of any developed nation, driven by an acceleration in economic growth and durables goods output. Product sales in Western Europe and Japan will rebound from recent declines, but market gains in these areas will be well below the world average. Advances will be limited by generally sluggish increases in durable goods output and, in the case of Japan, further decreases in motor vehicle production. Market increases in Eastern Europe will improve but not as fast as those in other developing areas. This will be due in part to subpar economic growth in neighboring Western Europe, which represents a major export market for many East European manufacturers.

Unmounted ball & roller bearings to remain dominant

Unmounted ball and roller bearings will continue to account for the vast majority of product demand, with sales of these goods totaling well over two-thirds of the market in 2018. Ball and roller bearing suppliers will benefit from increased output of machinery, motor vehicles, aerospace equipment, and motorcycles. Gains will also be supported by performance advantages that include lower starting resistance than plain bearings, ability to handle pure rotary loads, and favorable tradeoffs between carrying capacity, cost, durability, friction reduction, rotation rate, size, and weight.